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You thought winter was over? Think again

Published: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 01:07 PM.

Northwest Florida residents could be waking up to record low temperatures Wednesday morning.

A strong cold front moved through the area on Tuesday, bringing unseasonably cold temperatures and possible freezes with it.

“It’s being driven by a very strong late season upper level disturbance that brought a big surge of cold air from Northwest Canada down into the United States and basically allowed the push to occur all the way down to the Gulf Coast,” said Jason Beaman, meteorologist for the National Weather Service. “We sometimes get cold snaps this late in the year, but this is definitely something that doesn’t happen very often.”

Both Destin and Pensacola are forecast to reach record low temperatures Wednesday morning. Temperatures in Destin are expected to drop to 43 degrees Wednesday morning, down from the record low of 47 set on April 15, 2008. Pensacola is forecast to reach 40 degrees, which would break its record set 85 years ago.

Beaman said the National Weather Service currently does not have records for the northern parts of Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties, but those parts of the counties could see potential freezes Wednesday morning.

It was so cold Tuesday night that a cold weather shelter was opened at the Community of Christ church in Crestview.

“I was surprised,” said Ann Sprague, who oversees that shelter. “I thought the cold weather shelters were over with because all the hot weather was here.”

She was expecting 10 to 15 people stay at the shelter last night. It isn’t a first for the shelter. Sprague said they needed to open for three days in mid-April two years ago because of unseasonably cold weather.

The cold temperatures are not expected to last much longer. Temperatures are should move back into the 60s on Wednesday. Another cold snap is expected Thursday morning that will bring temperatures back down into the 40s, but by Thursday afternoon temperatures are expected to hit the 70s and are forecast to warm up the rest of the week, Beaman said.

Contact Daily News Business Editor Dusty Ricketts at 850-315-4448 or dricketts@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustyRnwfdn.

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Northwest Florida residents could be waking up to record low temperatures Wednesday morning.

A strong cold front moved through the area on Tuesday, bringing unseasonably cold temperatures and possible freezes with it.

“It’s being driven by a very strong late season upper level disturbance that brought a big surge of cold air from Northwest Canada down into the United States and basically allowed the push to occur all the way down to the Gulf Coast,” said Jason Beaman, meteorologist for the National Weather Service. “We sometimes get cold snaps this late in the year, but this is definitely something that doesn’t happen very often.”

Both Destin and Pensacola are forecast to reach record low temperatures Wednesday morning. Temperatures in Destin are expected to drop to 43 degrees Wednesday morning, down from the record low of 47 set on April 15, 2008. Pensacola is forecast to reach 40 degrees, which would break its record set 85 years ago.

Beaman said the National Weather Service currently does not have records for the northern parts of Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties, but those parts of the counties could see potential freezes Wednesday morning.

It was so cold Tuesday night that a cold weather shelter was opened at the Community of Christ church in Crestview.

“I was surprised,” said Ann Sprague, who oversees that shelter. “I thought the cold weather shelters were over with because all the hot weather was here.”

She was expecting 10 to 15 people stay at the shelter last night. It isn’t a first for the shelter. Sprague said they needed to open for three days in mid-April two years ago because of unseasonably cold weather.

The cold temperatures are not expected to last much longer. Temperatures are should move back into the 60s on Wednesday. Another cold snap is expected Thursday morning that will bring temperatures back down into the 40s, but by Thursday afternoon temperatures are expected to hit the 70s and are forecast to warm up the rest of the week, Beaman said.

Contact Daily News Business Editor Dusty Ricketts at 850-315-4448 or dricketts@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustyRnwfdn.